Healthy Lifestyle for a Healthy Heart
On the occasion of world heart day, we will learn about the role of diet & exercise in strengthening the health of heart.
Heart diseases are one of the most common lifestyle diseases. Some of most prominent factors for increased incidences of heart disease includes sedentary lifestyle, stress, excessive salt intake, junk food, smoking and excessive intake of alcohol.
Nowadays, numbers of safe and effective medicines are available to treat hypertension and other heart diseases. While weight control and regular exercise are critical for keeping your heart in shape, the food you eat can matter just as much. No single food can make you magically healthy, so your overall dietary pattern is more important than specific foods.
1. Eating more fiber, fruits and vegetables
Vegetables and fruits are good sources of vitamins and minerals. They are also low in calories and rich in dietary fiber. They all contain substances that may help prevent heart disease. Eating more fruits and vegetables may help you cut back on higher calorie foods, such as meat, cheese and snack foods. Choose fresh fruits and vegetables, over canned vegetables and canned fruits as they contain lots of preservatives.
2. Have a whole grain food
Whole grains are good sources of fiber and other nutrients that play a role in regulating blood pressure and heart health. You can increase the amount of whole grains in a heart-healthy diet by making simple substitutions for refined grain products. Or be adventuresome and try a new whole grain such as brown rice, oats or barley.
3. Reducing salt intake
Eating too much salt can lead to increase blood pressure. Limiting salt is an important part of a heart-healthy diet. The research recommends that healthy adults have no more than a teaspoon of salt per day. Reducing the amount of salt, you add to food at the table or while cooking can be a good first step. In fact, much of the salt you eat comes from canned or processed foods. Use spices and lemon juice for flavor. Try fresh herbs like basil, thyme, or chives. Substitute reduced sodium versions, or salt substitutes. Choose your condiments and packaged foods carefully, looking for foods labelled sodium free, low sodium, or unsalted. In fact, the less sodium you eat, the better blood pressure control you might have.
4. Watch on your fat intake:
I would suggest try replacing unhealthy fats with good fats rather than avoiding fat in your diet. Some of the most important improvements you can make to your diet are to:
Cut out artificial trans-fats. Apart from raising your LDL, or “bad” cholesterol level, which can increase your risk for heart attack and stroke, artificial trans-fat also lowers your levels of HDL or “good” cholesterol, which can put you at increased cardiovascular risk. It’s worth checking labels and avoiding anything with “partially hydrogenated” oil in the ingredients, even if it claims to be “trans fat-free.”
Limit saturated fats. Saturated fats are mainly found in tropical oils, dairy, and red meat and should be limited to no more than 10% of your daily calorie intake. Enjoy dairy in moderation and vary the protein sources in your diet, opting for fish, skinless chicken, eggs, and vegetarian sources of protein where you can.
Eat more healthy fats. Eating foods rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat can improve blood cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. Eat omega 3 fatty acids every day, from salmon fish, or from flaxseed, sunflower seeds, walnuts or soya bean oil contain good amount of PUFA’s. Other sources of healthy fats include avocados, almonds, cashews, olives, olive oil, peanut oil and nut butters are all rich in MUFA’s.
5. Don’t replace fat with sugar or refined carbs
Our body doesn’t need any added sugar as it gets all it needs from the sugar that naturally occurs in food. Sugary food and refined carbs just add up to a lot of empty calories that are as bad for your heart as they are for your waistline.
Instead of sugary soft drinks, white bread, pasta and processed foods like pizza, opt for unrefined whole grains like whole wheat or multigrain bread, brown rice, barley, bran cereal, oatmeal, and non-starchy vegetables.
6. Focus on a higher-fiber food:
A diet high in fiber can lower “bad” cholesterol and provide nutrients that help protect against heart disease. As an added bonus, it may also help you to lose weight. Fiber also moves fat through your digestive system quicker so less of it is absorbed. And when you fill up on fiber, you’ll also have more energy for exercising. Insoluble fiber is found in whole grains, wheat cereals, and vegetables such as carrots, beans, and tomatoes while soluble fiber sources include barley, oatmeal, beans, nuts, and fruits such as apples, berries, citrus fruits, and pears.
7. Regular Exercise
Being physically active is a major step toward good heart health. It’s one of your most effective tools for strengthening the heart muscle, keeping your weight under control, helps lower your blood pressure and blood sugar and lower your stress levels. Aerobic exercise and resistance training are the most important for heart health.
8. Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise improves circulation, which results in lowered blood pressure and also reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes. Ideally, at least 30 minutes a day, at least five days a week. Includes brisk walking, running, swimming, cycling, playing tennis and skipping rope.
9. Resistance Training (Strength Work)
Resistance training has a more specific effect on body composition, it can help reduce fat and create leaner muscle mass. Research shows that a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance work may help raise HDL and lower LDL. At least two non-consecutive days per week of resistance training is a good rule of thumb. Working out with free weights (such as hand weights or dumbbells), on weight machines, with resistance bands or through body-resistance exercises, such as push-ups, squats and chin-ups.
10. Stretching, Flexibility and Balance
Flexibility workouts, such as stretching, don’t directly contribute to heart health. They benefit musculoskeletal health, which enables you to stay flexible and free from joint pain and cramping. Flexibility is a critical part of being able to maintain aerobic exercise and resistance training. As a bonus, flexibility and balance exercises help maintain stability and prevent falls, which can cause injuries that limit other kinds of exercise. Should be done every day, before and after other exercise. Includes stretching, Yoga, Pilates and Tai-chi.
Lastly, the bottom line is that both diet and exercise play a crucial role, not only in developing but also in controlling the progression of heart disease. I advise everyone to adopt a healthy lifestyle which plays an important role in not only treating heart complications but also in preventing it.